GWI posts 3Q profit

Genesee & Wyoming Inc. on Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, reported third-quarter earnings of $65.7 million, or $1.16 per diluted share, compared with a loss of $19.6 million, or 47 cents a share, in the third quarter of 2012.

The 2012 period was affected by costs tied to Greenwich, Conn.-based GWI's acquistion of RailAmerica acquisition and other expenses.

GWI's revenue rose 80% to $401.4 million from $222.7 million a year ago. But revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations of $403.1 million; consensus estimates also expected $1.22 in per share earnings.

Said President and CEO Jack Hellmann, "The third quarter of 2013 was the third reporting period in which G&W's consolidated results included the former RailAmerica railroads. The combined business continued to perform well with Combined Company adjusted operating revenues up 11%, corporate overhead cost synergies now fully achieved, and G&W's adjusted diluted earnings per share up 49% in the third quarter."

"During the third quarter, we began hiring and training new crews at several of the former RailAmerica railroads to support our traffic growth, which was up 6.8% in the third quarter on a Combined Company basis. We also elected to incur one-time expenses to upgrade facilities, equipment and track at many of these same railroads to meet G&W safety and operating standards. As a result of these costs, and the finalization of our purchase accounting for RailAmerica, our adjusted operating ratio of 73.8% was around 1.3 percentage points higher than our third quarter target."